Aaron and I are looking at a "Perfect Storm" of exploding readership and decreasing sponsorship. Both he and I are experiencing the same dilemma of working full-time, having families, and keeping this site current. Neither of us have much time to hunt down new sponsors. Frankly, we'd rather devote our limited time to making this site the best it can be.

We have decided to come to the readers and ask for their support in the form of donations. Your contributions will be put to good use expanding the content and quality of the site. We have plans for new features that I think will blow you away - but we need your help.

I hope you'll consider donating. I know we have a strong readership and appreciate all the reports and content the readers have provided. Please take a moment and read our Donation Statement and then consider whatever help you can give us.

There isn't a specific amount we are looking to raise, rather, the money will go into the web site for a variety of projects. We are looking at all expenses related to the site. For example, next March we will do the Big Horn Sportsman's Show in Spokane. I'll be taking off several days from work and drive over there. The show itself is $475. One of our goals is to keep WashingtonLakes.com growing by doing yearly shows as a way of promoting the site. The more people that know about the site, the more reports we get. Additionally, readers often send in interesting fishing information (a good example is the recent muskie information from Bill Green). Four years ago the readership was averaging 40,000 visits a month and we posted 1300 reports. This year we are averaging 110,000 visits per month and have posted over 2100 reports. Aaron and I have a goal to keep this site the premier lake fishing web site for Washington. I have a personal dream of seeing the site become the encyclopedia of Washington lake fishing on the web and building an online fishing community of thousands of anglers. To get back to your orginal question, if a guy finds the site useful and wants to help out, $30 would be a nice starting point. Everyone's budget is different and any amount people are willing to donate is appreciated and will be put to good use. Finally, you should know the new version Aaron is designing is going to blow you away. I have been working with him on the beta and he has some incredible stuff in store for the readers. And I will say that it is very likely that down the road we will be going to a membership model for some of the cooler features that are added. Anything that is currently on the site will remain free. Trust me though, when you see some of the new stuff I think you'll agree that it will be worth the nominal yearly membership fee. We will keep it very reasonable. Hope I answered your questions (long-winded explanation!)